Teachers held a demonstration in front of the administrative headquarters of the Rio de Janeiro City Hall, in the city center, on Friday (23). They demanded compliance with the Safer Access security protocol in schools in the Maré Favela Complex, in the northern part of the city, during police operations in the community, where there is a risk of shootings. The protocol must be activated every time this happens.
Since Monday (19), the region has been undergoing a joint operation by agents from the Drug Enforcement Division (DRE) of the Rio de Janeiro Civil Police, the Military Police and members of the Municipal Secretariat for Public Order (Seop) against drug money laundering.
Rio de Janeiro. Teachers want compliance with the safety protocol in Maré Photo: Municipal Secretariat of Public Order/Disclosure
The action is the third phase of the operation to continue the demolition of properties built by the criminal organization, which operates in the area, especially in the Parque União community. Investigations indicated that for years, the criminals have been using the area to build and open real estate developments and, in this way, to launder the money obtained from drug sales.
According to the Civil Police, investigations are underway to verify the participation of employees of community representative bodies in the criminal scheme. On Tuesday (20), during the previous phase of the operation, agents located a luxury apartment that was used by drug traffickers. The property was demolished.
According to Samantha Guedes, general coordinator of the Rio de Janeiro State Union of Education Professionals (Sepe), schools, which had been closed for safety reasons for education professionals and students, have reopened, but teachers do not feel safe working in a tense environment like the one they have been in for the past few days. “How can you work under gunfire and expose your students?” asked the coordinator in an interview with Brazil Agency.
Samantha Guedes highlighted that classes can be maintained remotely. “We even work from home, because it will onlineWe never stop working and we provide content for the children,” he said.
Also this Friday, representatives of Sepe met with Professor Willman Costa, special advisor to the Municipal Secretary of Education of Rio de Janeiro, Renan Ferreirinha, at the city hall headquarters, to discuss the reopening of schools located in Maré.
Minutes
The minutes of the meeting, which Agência Brasil had access to, show that teacher Suzana Gutierrez highlighted her time of service in the community and that she has worked in adverse situations several times. She also reported that despite being activated on Thursday (22), the Safer Access security protocol is being disregarded. According to the minutes, the teacher said that, by order of the SME, schools were forced to open and serve students.
The teachers present at the meeting also highlighted that the removals carried out by Seop, of the properties built by the criminal faction, occur simultaneously with the movement of armored vehicles that pass through the area.
Roberta Tavares do Nascimento, who is also a teacher, mother of students in the municipal education system and resident of the community, reported that for the past two weeks she has not been able to sleep because of the police operation. She said she does not feel safe taking her children to school.
In a statement, the Municipal Department of Education reported that 24 municipal schools were closed on Monday (19), Tuesday (20) and Wednesday (21), in Maré. On Thursday (22) and today, the schools reopened with altered hours. “This year, there have already been 25 school days with at least one school closed in Maré,” it highlighted.
The secretariat reported that it conducts the opening or closing of schools following the Safer Access protocol, in partnership with the International Red Cross, “which involves technical criteria such as permanent monitoring of the situation in each territory and updating of police forces”.
According to the department, based on the definition of the use of the protocol, the dynamics of police operations in Maré were evaluated several times and with several updates throughout each day of this week. “Each day presented a different dynamic, which is why the Department, following the protocol, adopted specific procedures according to the specificities that occurred on each day of the police operation,” it reported.
The SME scheduled a new meeting with Sepe representatives for Monday (26), at 11 am.
Decharacterization of properties
Teachers want compliance with the security protocol in Maré, according to the Municipal Secretariat of Public Order/Disclosure
SEOP reported that it had completed the decommissioning of 32 buildings, with more than 162 units (apartments), on Friday. They also worked on the structure of the top floor of one of the buildings. These properties are part of the planned demolition of irregular constructions in the condominium with more than 40 properties in the Parque União community.
“At this stage of the demolition, the work is being done by hand, considering the height of the buildings and the difficulty in accessing some units. Preparation work for the use of machinery is already underway. The demolition of the irregular buildings will continue in the coming days.”
